Becoming a Foster Parent

children playing hopscotchThe Family Integrity Program is proud to be the only provider of Foster Care services for St. Johns County. We are the only agency in the county that recruits, licenses, services, and maintains Family Foster Homes for our county's children.

The Licensing Process

The Licensing of a home is a mutual selection process wherein the Family Integrity Program, the Department of Children and Families, and the foster applicant(s) all play a part in making an informed decision about whether Foster Care will be a successful endeavor at this time. The licensing process takes months, and it proceeds at a pace reflective of each home's readiness for the commitment.

Pre-Service Training

The required pre-service training consists of ten, three-hour classes, homework, and field-based exercises. The classes incorporate the best of other pre-service curriculums found throughout the state, such as: the Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (MAPP), PRIDE, and the Passport to Quality Parenting. The experience is meant to be educational, challenging, and fun, and the material is presented in many different ways to accommodate people's different learning styles. We offer classes on a rotational basis throughout the year. Prior to the beginning of each round of classes, an informational orientation session is held for prospective attendees.

Home Study

In addition to the completion of the pre-service training requirements, applicants must participate in the development of a Home Study which will include: background checks on all household members and regular visitors, home inspections, financial statements, references, and family, personal, and medical histories. It is a lengthy and intrusive process, but consider the level of vetting that you would like to have completed before someone watched one of your loved ones day-in and day-out.

More Information

For pre-service training and orientation dates, or to speak with someone regarding how you can help the children of St. Johns County, please call (904) 209-6131 or email kclayton@sjcfl.us.

Also see:

  • About Foster Care: Florida's Department of Children and Families covers how to become a foster parent, how to decide if you are ready, contact lists, ways to help, first steps and helpful links.
  • Florida Child Care Information: Florida's Department of Children and Families Child Care Information portal.